Kunming - the capital of Yunnan, and with its year-round temperate climate, also named the "City of Eternal Spring". Pretty much a fully developed city, with skyscrapers and shopping centres abound. The cool breeze accompanied a blazing noon Sun. We dropped from the station and took a private car to Cui Hu. The driver chatted animatedly about the culture of the city. He reminded us of a shrew rat.
Cui Hu lay lazily in the middle of the city, a picturesque lake where the young and the old come in seek of solace and sanctuary from the concrete jungle outside. The elderly danced and sang by the lake to the accompaniment of folk music. Lily fields crept across huge ponds, and ducks frolicked in the crystal green waters. Loving couples sat and admired the sunset closing down, the time trickling to a standstill. The scenery, especially at sunset, was enamouring.
We hurried to the train station, bought our tickets to Guangzhou, then went off to explore the city. Found a hip teenager hangout at Jin Ji Fang, and the yummy food district nearby. Some little girls begged our snacks away from us before we hardly got a bite though... sigh. My sinful, crispy zhua bing..
The next morning we caught the coach for a one day tour to the Stone Forest, Shih Lin. A detour to one of the famous temples in the region, once Wu Sangui's base in Yunnan. I sought a reading from the monks there, for a sizeable sum.
"Master, your fortune looks bad. You'll never be able to fulfill your dreams. Even your family will be affected by your demise."
"Wow...what should i do?"
"I suggest you burn incense at our temple's chalice...are you willing to do it?"
"Yea, sure. Where do i do it?"
"First you can pay a small donation... $300."
"Er no, i'm just a poor student."
"Oh then we have a student package for $100..."
...WTF. Goddamn scammers. I wish they'd do an audit into all religious organisations, and uncover all the bloody Durais.
Onwards, Shihlin, the amazing karst landscape spanning over hills and fields. Our guide, from the Yi tribe, brought us on a journey through the attraction. The other tourists looked thrilled with touching all the rocks and camwhoring. They did seem to notice that me and Jon were awfully bored, though. The rock formations aren't exactly the most exciting thing on earth.
I did converse with our guide though, so it wasn't that bad. She told me about their loss of language and dresscode in modern times, their marriage system, and her gloomy future. After working as long as possible, she'd have to end up working in the fields.
Our tour ended with a tea session of fine Pu'Er tea made by the ethnic minorities, then with a complementary foot massage at a TCM centre. Later on, walking along the street, we happened on a tea wholesale shop, and wandered in for a look. The owner was awfully nice and let us taste different kinds of Pu'Er tea, as well as enriching us with knowledge of its production and varieties. Certain varieties, as old and treasured as vintage wines, can fetch thousands of dollars! We bought a couple packets for the old folks back home, then retired to our hotels.
Kunming, third day. Today we planned for a free and easy trip, and found our way to the Ethnic minorities exhibit village. This is definitely the must-visit attraction, a vast grounds with over ten different ethnic villages and special performances at each point. Not having the time to explore rural Yunnan, it was still nice to settle for a sneak preview at all the groups scattered across the province.
There's Dai tribe from Xishuangbanna, which idolises water as it lives near lakes and rivers. Their people bath at least 3 times a day. Its counterpart in the hills, on the other hand, bath 3 times IN A LIFETIME! At birth, at marriage, then at death. They'd probably be easy to smell out.
We caught the performance by Wa tribe, which adores the colour black, and likes dark skin and hair. It is said of their people that, 'Hui shuo hua de jiu hui chang ge, hui zou lu de jiu hui tiao wu'. They put up a song and dance rendition, with their long matt hair flaying about like a shampoo advert.
Next was the Miao tribe, which probably rings a bell, because of their Gu3, the famous worm curse. We question the Miao people, and they freely admit that they do have such a thing! The curse can allow you to make anyone fall deeply in love with you. Only the older generations still 'grow' it now, though.
Other tribes include the Bai from Da Li, as well as the Tibetan and such. We caught a couple more performances, as well as a highly entertaining elephant show. After exhausting all its features, we finally ventured out and onwards to Dian Lake nearby.
The gigantic Dian Lake, once part of the sea, now stood with all its glorious waters in the suburbs of Kunming. We strolled amid the seabreeze, looked for four-leaf clovers in the litter, tried to hitch a ride umpteen times, played at the playground, then tried to find our way back.
Night time, and we searched for a cinema to relax our travel-weary senses. The movie, Kung Fu Panda! Neat story, i liked the humour and animation, but it felt too short. We snapped pictures with the Kung fu panda costumed guy outside the cinema too. And after the movie, we made a mad rush for the last bus to leave for our hotel. It feels almost native here, already.
The next unhurried morning, spent buying rations and boarding the train to Guangzhou. After the past week of diarrhoea, i had a fever and retired to sleep quickly. In the 24-hr journey across China, i probably slept 20 hours off in a hot, muddled dream. But the train was pretty good, with ambient music, comfy beds and clean toilets. Our bunkmate, an uncle from Guangdong, works in Kunming as a construction worker. He's typical of China's caste of labourers, travelling long distances away from their families for the sake of making a little money. He showed us pictures of his son.
When i awoke, it was evening. I sat by the window, watching the breathtaking scenery flow by. Rice terraces, outlines of mountains overlapping incessantly, shepherds driving their herds of goats across the verdant fields, and oxen snorting in the rivers.
As the sun set behind the rolling hills, bathing everything in a blinding orange, i looked on, numbed by the pain.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
A Craigslist story
My Life Since Getting Out of Prison
Date: 2008-06-26, 7:03PM PDT
I graduated from college in May, and this summer seemed like a good time to go through the box of papers and assignments I had been saving since the start, both to reminisce and to do a little cleanup.
Tucked in a folder of an old notebook at the very bottom of the box was the essay that follows. Written in longhand, it was the first assignment from the first class in my first semester.
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January 20, 2003
English 1A
Professer ___________
My Best Summer Memory
Hey man, I’m not really sure if you’re supposed to put an introduction in this thing, but here goes anyway. My name is ____________. My assignment today is to write an essay about the best thing that happened to me this last summer.
I know everybody’s been kinda looking at me in class, wondering why a dude in his thirties is taking English 1A instead of being out there working a job. I’m not too keen on talking about myself much. Most folks aren’t, I guess, unless they’re Paris Hilton. But since the assignment is a personal essay I suppose I don’t have much choice. Anyways the best thing that happened to me this last summer was when I finally got outta prison based on that DNA evidence.
I’ll tell you man, if you can’t appreciate getting outta prison then you haven’t been there to begin with. For me it started about three years ago when this chick got murdered in East San Jose while opening up her plumbing supply shop. Me and Merle came by a couple weeks later to pick up some PVC for a sprinkler repair, and for some reason the dude behind the counter thought we was a little suspicious, so he called the cops. They put me in a line up, but of course the dude already knew what I looked like and what clothes I was wearing so it wasn’t that tough to pick me out. Other than that there was no real evidence, but I didn’t have an alibi and I had a couple drunk and disorderlies on my record back from when me and Merle used to fight each other for fun after closing time.
They had it in their minds I was guilty, and they kept after me for two days, yelling and throwing stuff at me and telling me made-up stories about how Merle told them I did it. I always figured I was pretty tough but after awhile it just wore me down. I had to look at some pictures of death row and I got showed on my arm where the needles would go and everybody called me Dead Man Walking. They told me if I signed a confession I wouldn’t get the death penalty and I had to think about that one pretty hard. The lawyer they assigned to me smelled like he’d been pulling a cork during lunch and he fell asleep while they was questioning me. I knew I didn’t do nothing but sometimes life just ain’t all fair, and this seemed like one of those times. So I signed.
After the sentencing Merle sold my truck and moved all my stuff into storage for me, and promised me he’d look after Mussel Shoals, my black lab. They sent me up to San Quentin, and when I got there, I was put in the section with the black dudes.I found out later that’s what they do with new prisoners, except the blacks end up in the white section. I guess it’s to soften up the new inmates, I dunno. Whatever the reason it didn’t take long for them to find this paleface. One day I turn around, and there they stood, the welcoming committee.
It didn’t take but one look to realize they weren’t there to bring me a fruit basket. I figured this was gonna be a test of me, find out if they could push me around, so I got a good shot in on the first one and broke his nose. Since it was four on one, I was looking at an ass-kickin for sure, so I didn’t follow up on the others too much, to try and keep ‘em from getting too mad. Well man, was I ever wrong about that. They got me face down, one on each arm and leg, then they got my pants down. About this time, right up till the last minute, I was thinking, this can't be happening to me.
The dude whose nose I broke went first. I was heaving and twisting my body trying to get loose, but the others held me down good. He started to poke around and then forced himself in. I never in my life had anything hurt like that, man. Everything got all cloudy and I heard him call me his white bitch. Bits of snot and blood from his nose dripped down on the cement next to my head. It’s the only time in my life I ever tried to talk to God. First I asked him why. Then I asked him to help me. And he never said a word.
You know, the only thing worse than being shined on by God is having it happen at a time like that, man. But it’s just like the preachers say: you can’t fool God. He knows why you’re finally talking to him – because you need help. So God never answered me, and I was on my own. And the only thing I wanted to do was to die.
When he was done, he got up and kicked me in the head. That in a way was kind of a blessing, cause I don't remember anything that happened after that for awhile, and I'm pretty sure the rest of those dudes took their turns.
A few weeks later, they came around again. I knew what was coming this time, and I didn’t hold anything back. I popped three of em pretty good before they got me down and did me again. They got the better of me, no question, but I left them worse for wear. That was the first time I ever saw a black eye on a black dude.
By this time I was hoping they’d think I just ain’t worth the trouble. There were plenty of others there that were easier pickins than me. But this wasn't about finding someone for sex, it was about breaking me down. So I got another visit from my new buddies. This time, they kinda formed a circle around me before moving in, and I could see in their eyes that some of them weren't really looking forward to this at all. Well man, welcome to the fuckin club.
This time I ended up in the prison hospital and spent a couple weeks there. One day, I was laying there thinking about how much I hurt and wondering what a life sentence was gonna be like with this happening all the time, when one of the inmates working in the hospital starts talking to me and tells me about the Aryan Brotherhood and how I don't have to put up with the nee-grahs no more as long as I join up with em. And that’s how I ended up with the tattoo of the swastika and WHITE POWER on my arm, right up there by the bicep.
Well, time goes by and I’m getting settled into the routine of prison life, and no one is messing with my behind no more now that I’m in this white guy gang. Then from outta the blue I find out that that someone from the Pine Hills Youth Correctional Facility in Montana got religious and wrote a letter confessing to killing that chick. He was just a kid, only seventeen years old. Can you believe that? Well, no one at San Quentin did. No one takes you seriously when you tell em you’re innocent, cause everybody in prison says they’re innocent. I didn’t have the letter or anything, just what I heard, so no one gave a shiet.
So I wrote to Merle, and he sent some dude from the Innocence Project to visit me. Next thing I know the prison doctor is scraping some skin from the inside of my mouth, and one day, just like that, they're walking me out the door and on my way. Course it didn’t take more than five minutes to be up to my ass in ambulance chasers all wanting to help me sue the government for my troubles. Most of em didn’t smell much different than the public defender, and I began to wonder if I was ever gonna get a lawyer who wasn’t a fall-down drunk. The dudes at the Innocence Project gave me the name of some chick up in San Francisco to call. That was kinda far away for me, but she turned out to be a pretty good lawyer and didn’t smell of booze either. She spent a lot of time yelling at the guys from the city, and let me tell you man, after listening to that I sure was glad she was working for me and not them. In the end, I got some money, not a lot, cause I wasn't in all that long and of course I didn’t tell a soul about the other stuff, but it was enough to get my trailer and a good truck, and they also promised to pay for retraining which is why I’m taking this class.
Once I got all signed up for school and the dust settled down, I figured I better get rid of that tattoo. So I called up Merle and told him to come on over and give me a hand with it. We heated up a weeding tool in the barbeque, and I bit down on a little stick of wood while Merle burnt off the tattoo with the weeder. You know, I never stopped biting that stick, but when the flesh started to burn, I tried to push everything outta me like emptying a squeeze bottle of Heinz ketchup. All the shame, all the rage I was carrying around inside me since I got out. I just forced it all outta me and I guess I yelled a good deal, cause Merle was looking at me kinda funny when it was done.
Merle's my best friend, and I figured maybe it was OK if I told him about it all, so I did. And when I was done, there was a long silence, then he kinda looked at me and asked in a quiet voice if I was gonna make him burn my bunghole too, and finish the job. That Merle, he's as dumb as a box of rocks, but he always finds a way to make me laugh.
I never really took to queers in the first place but it ain’t cause of what happened to me when I was inside prison. I don't blame the blacks or the queers for it. That stuff really wasn't about color or sex; it was about power plays by cons who had to ditch their humanity in order to survive. Still, as everybody knows man, no matter how many times you squeeze the bottle, you can't get every last bit of ketchup out, and for me, I still had some bits of my experience I couldn’t get outta my head. Sometimes, I'd be watching TV and just start to feel terribly sad and weak. Mussel Shoals was back with me by then, and he seemed to know something was wrong when I felt like that. He didn't know what, but he’d always come on over anyway, and lick my hand and rest his head on my leg. I tell you man, I really love that dog.
It was real tough getting back in the saddle with the ladies after what happened to me in prison. I’d always heard that if you so much as touched another guy’s privates you were queer for life, and although I was hoping that weren’t true, it was hard to think about sex without remembering all the bad stuff. Merle brought by some chick he was going out with who had a lady friend, and though she was nice and all I was kinda scared I wouldn’t be able to deliver the goods and have to start explaining everything, so I had to pass.
About a month after I bought my trailer, I met a nice chick at the park while out walking Mussel Shoals. She's about my age and pretty agreeable. Betty’s her name. She has a dog, too, a female Dalmatian named Dotty. Mussel Shoals was OK with that, ‘cause he ain’t prejudiced, and they got along just great. After we'd been going out for a few weeks it was my birthday, and she and Merle came over to my trailer and surprised me with a little cake. After I blew out the candles they said we could do anything I want, their treat. So we talked about it awhile and decided to spend the day out at Great America.
Well I don’t know if you been to Great America lately but they have this new feature which is a water park, and if you asked me that part alone is worth the price of admission. After we got in we headed on over there and changed our clothes in one of the little changing rooms they have nearby. While I was waiting for Betty to change (course chicks always take forever, took me and Merle about a minute and Betty about four hours) I struck up this conversation with this Filipino dude who was waiting behind me. He had a shirt on said he’s a police officer, so of course I didn’t mention anything about being in prison. Then one of the changing rooms opened up, not the one Betty was in (of course since she takes a million years) so I told the dude to go ahead of me since I had to wait for Betty anyway.
He moved on into the room and then his son, who was maybe 3 or 4 years old, started following him, but he told the son to wait outside. So the kid kinda backstepped a ways without turning around and then reached up and took my hand, and I closed my hand around his and we stood there awhile like uncle and son. It was a great feeling man. I never got to do that with my dad, cause he passed out on some tracks and got all mashed up by a train when I was only six months old, and none of the dudes that Mom brought around after that ever stayed more than a couple days. I didn’t really know what I was supposed to do, so I just stood there and tried not to squeeze his hand too hard.
Pretty soon though I heard this laughing behind me, and it’s the kid’s mom. And I looked down at him, and he’s looking over at her, and his forehead gets all crinkly, and he looks at his hand in mine, and you can see him sorta follow my arm all the way up to my shoulder and to my head. When he figured out I wasn’t his mom, his eyes got real big and he yanked his hand away and scampered over to where she was sitting.
Well by this time his mom is pretty much doubled over with laughter and she and I are talking, and of course Betty comes out right about then and sees me talking to this hot Filipino chick and gives me the stink eye. But it didn’t take too long before I’m the one who was upset cause Betty is wearing this string bikini top and let me tell you man, if I had charged a quarter a peek for a look at her tatas I would have made a fortune that day. Betty looks a lot like Salma Hayak (specially when she gets mad, which is all the time, Geez!) and she has a really nice rack.
But you see man this is where chicks are really sneaky. Betty knew we was going to a water park and there'd be lots of chicks to look at and she didn’t want me looking at em. So she wore her most revealing outfit cause she knew I’d have to keep an eye on her. At a place like Great America there are tons of buff dudes walking around trying to grab your chick when you’re distracted. So you got to keep your eye out every minute and that cuts into your time cruising the hotties. And speaking of that I think next time I’m gonna tell Betty how much I enjoy checking out the babes while she’s goofing around in the dressing room. That oughta speed her up.
We had a great time and ate crummy food and I won a Spongebob doll for Betty at the pitching booth. Merle almost got in a fight with some dudes who stole a big doll from one of the other carnival booths but the rent-a-cops broke that one up before it started. Later he got sick after going on the Invertigo and we got to watch him puke in a trash can. That part wasn’t so good, but after it got dark the fireworks started going off and Betty snuggled up to me real close and I forgot all about Merle, and we kinda lost him. It worked out OK though in the end. Merle called me later and told me that when he got out to the parking lot he ran into the same dudes he almost got in a fight with, and they ended up going out drinking and they’re his dawgs now. I never heard Merle call anyone that before, but he don’t generally hang out with black dudes either.
After the fireworks was done, Betty came back with me to my trailer, and we started watching American Idol. Well, one thing led to another and the next thing you know we was in bed getting ready to do the horizontal mambo. She was kinda nervous so I cracked a few jokes to relax her till she told me to shut up. I was nervous too, man. I was worried about maybe being queer, but besides even that, this was gonna be the first time for me since before I went to prison, and I was afraid I might be a little rusty.
It was a night I think I’m always gonna remember. First-time sex with a chick who's your girlfriend is always a big deal, specially if you’re a guy. You get to see what she looks like naked, specially the boobs, and see what kind of funny noises she makes when she gets all excited. In spite of all my worrying, everything turned out OK. I guess sex is like being on a bicycle, you never forget how to ride. Still, it took Betty a long time to come that night, but that’s probly cause she was busy with her own first-time sex thoughts. Chicks are funny about that. It's like the first time you take em out to dinner. They don't care about the dinner so much as not looking bad eating it, which usually means not eating much of it at all. Same thing with sex. The first time, they don't care so much about coming as much as they don't want to embarrass themselves. Next time though you better deliver, that is if you want there to be a third time.
So we're laying there afterwards, her head on my shoulder, and just talking real soft about nothing in particular, when all of a sudden there's this big commotion and damn if Mussel Shoals wasn't trying to have sexual relations with Dotty. She didn’t seem quite as interested as he was, but he stayed right on it, the two of em crashing into the walls and the bed and just going to town. I'll tell you, no one is gonna mistake ol’ Mussel Shoals for a 60 minute man, but seeing it was his first time and all, maybe he'll improve with practice.
A bit later I was the only one awake, and I was laying there listening to the three of em making their sleep noises, and wishing I could get my arm loose somehow so I could get a glass of water without waking up Betty. But I just laid there listening to the sounds, and smelling the odors of the people sex and dog sex, and thinking about my life.
I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid. I wanted to be a big success and fall in love with the prom queen and live in a four bedroom house with two kids and a Chevy just like white people do in the movies. It didn’t take long to figure out that wasn't gonna happen, and things started to look real bad there for awhile like I just told you about, and much as I try to, I’m probly never gonna forget how I got into prison and what happened to me there.
But all and all, life really ain’t been so bad to me, man. Betty said she thinks I might make a good lawyer someday. I told her I’ll be lucky to pass this class much less make it all the way to law school. But she thinks I can become a lawyer, not one like the city gives you that drinks his lunch, but someone who really helps people, maybe even get some other dudes outta prison that don’t belong there either. She said everybody has a destiny in life, and mine is to help people to redeem their lives. How can you not love a chick who talks like that, specially about you?
Come to think of it, the best thing that happened to me last summer was meeting Betty. I got me a good woman in that chick. I got someone to calm me down after I get cut off on the freeway by some dick, and to help me express my true feelings without cussin. She’s someone who’ll open the aspirin bottle for me when I have a hangover, fake an orgasm when I really need her to, and maybe someday, God willing, remind me how many kids we have and what their names are. Guys don't give their chicks enough credit for this sorta stuff, and frankly you dudes out there reading this, if you are not making use of this kinda help then you are not getting full value outta your chick.
I’m gonna do my part too. I’m gonna protect her, always. I’m gonna hold her and pet her head and tell her everything’s OK when she’s feeling sad. I’m gonna nod at her sympathetically while thinking, "Who fuckin cares?" while she bitches on and on about some other chick at work who looked at her the wrong way. I’m gonna help her watch football with me, let her change my haircut and clothes all the time, and worry about all the big shiet so she has plenty of time for chick stuff like shopping and crying.
It was a great summer, man. And I’m looking forward to the rest of my life.
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I got a D for this essay ("inappropriate content)", and a C-minus for the course. I was pretty discouraged, but Betty wouldn't let me quit. She said that this might not be my last chance to change my life, but it sure was going to be my best chance, and I should go all out. At the department graduation ceremonies in May, the entire faculty rose and applauded me as I walked up to get my diploma. And then before you know it, everyone else got up and joined in too, and Betty started bawling her eyes out. I was really embarrassed, but fortunately Merle was there, and he shouted "It's about fucking time!" to me, which cracked up everyone and got them back into their seats. In the fall, I'll start law school at Santa Clara University, on an Emery scholarship.
Merle is a Precinct Captain for the Obama Campaign.
Mussel Shoals went on to live a happy life with Dotty. When his hearing started to go, we noticed that she was helping him to understand when we gave him commands. One by one his parts started to wear out, and on December 24th of last year, my dearest friend licked my hand one last time and then slept away. I buried him on a short hill, next to a trail where I used to hike with him and Dotty. The view is beautiful, and when we visit, Dotty will lay next to him for as long as I am willing to stay.
About three years ago my grades started to get very good and it looked like school would stick. I came home one night and told Betty that I thought things were getting better every year, year after year. She started crying and wouldn't tell me why. It took me a long time to figure it out, and when I did I felt pretty sheepish. I asked her, she answered yes, and nine months to the day of our wedding night, little Tina was born. She's as cute as a bug, and someday when she is old enough to learn about her old man's story, I will take this essay out of storage for her to read.
Date: 2008-06-26, 7:03PM PDT
I graduated from college in May, and this summer seemed like a good time to go through the box of papers and assignments I had been saving since the start, both to reminisce and to do a little cleanup.
Tucked in a folder of an old notebook at the very bottom of the box was the essay that follows. Written in longhand, it was the first assignment from the first class in my first semester.
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January 20, 2003
English 1A
Professer ___________
My Best Summer Memory
Hey man, I’m not really sure if you’re supposed to put an introduction in this thing, but here goes anyway. My name is ____________. My assignment today is to write an essay about the best thing that happened to me this last summer.
I know everybody’s been kinda looking at me in class, wondering why a dude in his thirties is taking English 1A instead of being out there working a job. I’m not too keen on talking about myself much. Most folks aren’t, I guess, unless they’re Paris Hilton. But since the assignment is a personal essay I suppose I don’t have much choice. Anyways the best thing that happened to me this last summer was when I finally got outta prison based on that DNA evidence.
I’ll tell you man, if you can’t appreciate getting outta prison then you haven’t been there to begin with. For me it started about three years ago when this chick got murdered in East San Jose while opening up her plumbing supply shop. Me and Merle came by a couple weeks later to pick up some PVC for a sprinkler repair, and for some reason the dude behind the counter thought we was a little suspicious, so he called the cops. They put me in a line up, but of course the dude already knew what I looked like and what clothes I was wearing so it wasn’t that tough to pick me out. Other than that there was no real evidence, but I didn’t have an alibi and I had a couple drunk and disorderlies on my record back from when me and Merle used to fight each other for fun after closing time.
They had it in their minds I was guilty, and they kept after me for two days, yelling and throwing stuff at me and telling me made-up stories about how Merle told them I did it. I always figured I was pretty tough but after awhile it just wore me down. I had to look at some pictures of death row and I got showed on my arm where the needles would go and everybody called me Dead Man Walking. They told me if I signed a confession I wouldn’t get the death penalty and I had to think about that one pretty hard. The lawyer they assigned to me smelled like he’d been pulling a cork during lunch and he fell asleep while they was questioning me. I knew I didn’t do nothing but sometimes life just ain’t all fair, and this seemed like one of those times. So I signed.
After the sentencing Merle sold my truck and moved all my stuff into storage for me, and promised me he’d look after Mussel Shoals, my black lab. They sent me up to San Quentin, and when I got there, I was put in the section with the black dudes.I found out later that’s what they do with new prisoners, except the blacks end up in the white section. I guess it’s to soften up the new inmates, I dunno. Whatever the reason it didn’t take long for them to find this paleface. One day I turn around, and there they stood, the welcoming committee.
It didn’t take but one look to realize they weren’t there to bring me a fruit basket. I figured this was gonna be a test of me, find out if they could push me around, so I got a good shot in on the first one and broke his nose. Since it was four on one, I was looking at an ass-kickin for sure, so I didn’t follow up on the others too much, to try and keep ‘em from getting too mad. Well man, was I ever wrong about that. They got me face down, one on each arm and leg, then they got my pants down. About this time, right up till the last minute, I was thinking, this can't be happening to me.
The dude whose nose I broke went first. I was heaving and twisting my body trying to get loose, but the others held me down good. He started to poke around and then forced himself in. I never in my life had anything hurt like that, man. Everything got all cloudy and I heard him call me his white bitch. Bits of snot and blood from his nose dripped down on the cement next to my head. It’s the only time in my life I ever tried to talk to God. First I asked him why. Then I asked him to help me. And he never said a word.
You know, the only thing worse than being shined on by God is having it happen at a time like that, man. But it’s just like the preachers say: you can’t fool God. He knows why you’re finally talking to him – because you need help. So God never answered me, and I was on my own. And the only thing I wanted to do was to die.
When he was done, he got up and kicked me in the head. That in a way was kind of a blessing, cause I don't remember anything that happened after that for awhile, and I'm pretty sure the rest of those dudes took their turns.
A few weeks later, they came around again. I knew what was coming this time, and I didn’t hold anything back. I popped three of em pretty good before they got me down and did me again. They got the better of me, no question, but I left them worse for wear. That was the first time I ever saw a black eye on a black dude.
By this time I was hoping they’d think I just ain’t worth the trouble. There were plenty of others there that were easier pickins than me. But this wasn't about finding someone for sex, it was about breaking me down. So I got another visit from my new buddies. This time, they kinda formed a circle around me before moving in, and I could see in their eyes that some of them weren't really looking forward to this at all. Well man, welcome to the fuckin club.
This time I ended up in the prison hospital and spent a couple weeks there. One day, I was laying there thinking about how much I hurt and wondering what a life sentence was gonna be like with this happening all the time, when one of the inmates working in the hospital starts talking to me and tells me about the Aryan Brotherhood and how I don't have to put up with the nee-grahs no more as long as I join up with em. And that’s how I ended up with the tattoo of the swastika and WHITE POWER on my arm, right up there by the bicep.
Well, time goes by and I’m getting settled into the routine of prison life, and no one is messing with my behind no more now that I’m in this white guy gang. Then from outta the blue I find out that that someone from the Pine Hills Youth Correctional Facility in Montana got religious and wrote a letter confessing to killing that chick. He was just a kid, only seventeen years old. Can you believe that? Well, no one at San Quentin did. No one takes you seriously when you tell em you’re innocent, cause everybody in prison says they’re innocent. I didn’t have the letter or anything, just what I heard, so no one gave a shiet.
So I wrote to Merle, and he sent some dude from the Innocence Project to visit me. Next thing I know the prison doctor is scraping some skin from the inside of my mouth, and one day, just like that, they're walking me out the door and on my way. Course it didn’t take more than five minutes to be up to my ass in ambulance chasers all wanting to help me sue the government for my troubles. Most of em didn’t smell much different than the public defender, and I began to wonder if I was ever gonna get a lawyer who wasn’t a fall-down drunk. The dudes at the Innocence Project gave me the name of some chick up in San Francisco to call. That was kinda far away for me, but she turned out to be a pretty good lawyer and didn’t smell of booze either. She spent a lot of time yelling at the guys from the city, and let me tell you man, after listening to that I sure was glad she was working for me and not them. In the end, I got some money, not a lot, cause I wasn't in all that long and of course I didn’t tell a soul about the other stuff, but it was enough to get my trailer and a good truck, and they also promised to pay for retraining which is why I’m taking this class.
Once I got all signed up for school and the dust settled down, I figured I better get rid of that tattoo. So I called up Merle and told him to come on over and give me a hand with it. We heated up a weeding tool in the barbeque, and I bit down on a little stick of wood while Merle burnt off the tattoo with the weeder. You know, I never stopped biting that stick, but when the flesh started to burn, I tried to push everything outta me like emptying a squeeze bottle of Heinz ketchup. All the shame, all the rage I was carrying around inside me since I got out. I just forced it all outta me and I guess I yelled a good deal, cause Merle was looking at me kinda funny when it was done.
Merle's my best friend, and I figured maybe it was OK if I told him about it all, so I did. And when I was done, there was a long silence, then he kinda looked at me and asked in a quiet voice if I was gonna make him burn my bunghole too, and finish the job. That Merle, he's as dumb as a box of rocks, but he always finds a way to make me laugh.
I never really took to queers in the first place but it ain’t cause of what happened to me when I was inside prison. I don't blame the blacks or the queers for it. That stuff really wasn't about color or sex; it was about power plays by cons who had to ditch their humanity in order to survive. Still, as everybody knows man, no matter how many times you squeeze the bottle, you can't get every last bit of ketchup out, and for me, I still had some bits of my experience I couldn’t get outta my head. Sometimes, I'd be watching TV and just start to feel terribly sad and weak. Mussel Shoals was back with me by then, and he seemed to know something was wrong when I felt like that. He didn't know what, but he’d always come on over anyway, and lick my hand and rest his head on my leg. I tell you man, I really love that dog.
It was real tough getting back in the saddle with the ladies after what happened to me in prison. I’d always heard that if you so much as touched another guy’s privates you were queer for life, and although I was hoping that weren’t true, it was hard to think about sex without remembering all the bad stuff. Merle brought by some chick he was going out with who had a lady friend, and though she was nice and all I was kinda scared I wouldn’t be able to deliver the goods and have to start explaining everything, so I had to pass.
About a month after I bought my trailer, I met a nice chick at the park while out walking Mussel Shoals. She's about my age and pretty agreeable. Betty’s her name. She has a dog, too, a female Dalmatian named Dotty. Mussel Shoals was OK with that, ‘cause he ain’t prejudiced, and they got along just great. After we'd been going out for a few weeks it was my birthday, and she and Merle came over to my trailer and surprised me with a little cake. After I blew out the candles they said we could do anything I want, their treat. So we talked about it awhile and decided to spend the day out at Great America.
Well I don’t know if you been to Great America lately but they have this new feature which is a water park, and if you asked me that part alone is worth the price of admission. After we got in we headed on over there and changed our clothes in one of the little changing rooms they have nearby. While I was waiting for Betty to change (course chicks always take forever, took me and Merle about a minute and Betty about four hours) I struck up this conversation with this Filipino dude who was waiting behind me. He had a shirt on said he’s a police officer, so of course I didn’t mention anything about being in prison. Then one of the changing rooms opened up, not the one Betty was in (of course since she takes a million years) so I told the dude to go ahead of me since I had to wait for Betty anyway.
He moved on into the room and then his son, who was maybe 3 or 4 years old, started following him, but he told the son to wait outside. So the kid kinda backstepped a ways without turning around and then reached up and took my hand, and I closed my hand around his and we stood there awhile like uncle and son. It was a great feeling man. I never got to do that with my dad, cause he passed out on some tracks and got all mashed up by a train when I was only six months old, and none of the dudes that Mom brought around after that ever stayed more than a couple days. I didn’t really know what I was supposed to do, so I just stood there and tried not to squeeze his hand too hard.
Pretty soon though I heard this laughing behind me, and it’s the kid’s mom. And I looked down at him, and he’s looking over at her, and his forehead gets all crinkly, and he looks at his hand in mine, and you can see him sorta follow my arm all the way up to my shoulder and to my head. When he figured out I wasn’t his mom, his eyes got real big and he yanked his hand away and scampered over to where she was sitting.
Well by this time his mom is pretty much doubled over with laughter and she and I are talking, and of course Betty comes out right about then and sees me talking to this hot Filipino chick and gives me the stink eye. But it didn’t take too long before I’m the one who was upset cause Betty is wearing this string bikini top and let me tell you man, if I had charged a quarter a peek for a look at her tatas I would have made a fortune that day. Betty looks a lot like Salma Hayak (specially when she gets mad, which is all the time, Geez!) and she has a really nice rack.
But you see man this is where chicks are really sneaky. Betty knew we was going to a water park and there'd be lots of chicks to look at and she didn’t want me looking at em. So she wore her most revealing outfit cause she knew I’d have to keep an eye on her. At a place like Great America there are tons of buff dudes walking around trying to grab your chick when you’re distracted. So you got to keep your eye out every minute and that cuts into your time cruising the hotties. And speaking of that I think next time I’m gonna tell Betty how much I enjoy checking out the babes while she’s goofing around in the dressing room. That oughta speed her up.
We had a great time and ate crummy food and I won a Spongebob doll for Betty at the pitching booth. Merle almost got in a fight with some dudes who stole a big doll from one of the other carnival booths but the rent-a-cops broke that one up before it started. Later he got sick after going on the Invertigo and we got to watch him puke in a trash can. That part wasn’t so good, but after it got dark the fireworks started going off and Betty snuggled up to me real close and I forgot all about Merle, and we kinda lost him. It worked out OK though in the end. Merle called me later and told me that when he got out to the parking lot he ran into the same dudes he almost got in a fight with, and they ended up going out drinking and they’re his dawgs now. I never heard Merle call anyone that before, but he don’t generally hang out with black dudes either.
After the fireworks was done, Betty came back with me to my trailer, and we started watching American Idol. Well, one thing led to another and the next thing you know we was in bed getting ready to do the horizontal mambo. She was kinda nervous so I cracked a few jokes to relax her till she told me to shut up. I was nervous too, man. I was worried about maybe being queer, but besides even that, this was gonna be the first time for me since before I went to prison, and I was afraid I might be a little rusty.
It was a night I think I’m always gonna remember. First-time sex with a chick who's your girlfriend is always a big deal, specially if you’re a guy. You get to see what she looks like naked, specially the boobs, and see what kind of funny noises she makes when she gets all excited. In spite of all my worrying, everything turned out OK. I guess sex is like being on a bicycle, you never forget how to ride. Still, it took Betty a long time to come that night, but that’s probly cause she was busy with her own first-time sex thoughts. Chicks are funny about that. It's like the first time you take em out to dinner. They don't care about the dinner so much as not looking bad eating it, which usually means not eating much of it at all. Same thing with sex. The first time, they don't care so much about coming as much as they don't want to embarrass themselves. Next time though you better deliver, that is if you want there to be a third time.
So we're laying there afterwards, her head on my shoulder, and just talking real soft about nothing in particular, when all of a sudden there's this big commotion and damn if Mussel Shoals wasn't trying to have sexual relations with Dotty. She didn’t seem quite as interested as he was, but he stayed right on it, the two of em crashing into the walls and the bed and just going to town. I'll tell you, no one is gonna mistake ol’ Mussel Shoals for a 60 minute man, but seeing it was his first time and all, maybe he'll improve with practice.
A bit later I was the only one awake, and I was laying there listening to the three of em making their sleep noises, and wishing I could get my arm loose somehow so I could get a glass of water without waking up Betty. But I just laid there listening to the sounds, and smelling the odors of the people sex and dog sex, and thinking about my life.
I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid. I wanted to be a big success and fall in love with the prom queen and live in a four bedroom house with two kids and a Chevy just like white people do in the movies. It didn’t take long to figure out that wasn't gonna happen, and things started to look real bad there for awhile like I just told you about, and much as I try to, I’m probly never gonna forget how I got into prison and what happened to me there.
But all and all, life really ain’t been so bad to me, man. Betty said she thinks I might make a good lawyer someday. I told her I’ll be lucky to pass this class much less make it all the way to law school. But she thinks I can become a lawyer, not one like the city gives you that drinks his lunch, but someone who really helps people, maybe even get some other dudes outta prison that don’t belong there either. She said everybody has a destiny in life, and mine is to help people to redeem their lives. How can you not love a chick who talks like that, specially about you?
Come to think of it, the best thing that happened to me last summer was meeting Betty. I got me a good woman in that chick. I got someone to calm me down after I get cut off on the freeway by some dick, and to help me express my true feelings without cussin. She’s someone who’ll open the aspirin bottle for me when I have a hangover, fake an orgasm when I really need her to, and maybe someday, God willing, remind me how many kids we have and what their names are. Guys don't give their chicks enough credit for this sorta stuff, and frankly you dudes out there reading this, if you are not making use of this kinda help then you are not getting full value outta your chick.
I’m gonna do my part too. I’m gonna protect her, always. I’m gonna hold her and pet her head and tell her everything’s OK when she’s feeling sad. I’m gonna nod at her sympathetically while thinking, "Who fuckin cares?" while she bitches on and on about some other chick at work who looked at her the wrong way. I’m gonna help her watch football with me, let her change my haircut and clothes all the time, and worry about all the big shiet so she has plenty of time for chick stuff like shopping and crying.
It was a great summer, man. And I’m looking forward to the rest of my life.
********************************************************
I got a D for this essay ("inappropriate content)", and a C-minus for the course. I was pretty discouraged, but Betty wouldn't let me quit. She said that this might not be my last chance to change my life, but it sure was going to be my best chance, and I should go all out. At the department graduation ceremonies in May, the entire faculty rose and applauded me as I walked up to get my diploma. And then before you know it, everyone else got up and joined in too, and Betty started bawling her eyes out. I was really embarrassed, but fortunately Merle was there, and he shouted "It's about fucking time!" to me, which cracked up everyone and got them back into their seats. In the fall, I'll start law school at Santa Clara University, on an Emery scholarship.
Merle is a Precinct Captain for the Obama Campaign.
Mussel Shoals went on to live a happy life with Dotty. When his hearing started to go, we noticed that she was helping him to understand when we gave him commands. One by one his parts started to wear out, and on December 24th of last year, my dearest friend licked my hand one last time and then slept away. I buried him on a short hill, next to a trail where I used to hike with him and Dotty. The view is beautiful, and when we visit, Dotty will lay next to him for as long as I am willing to stay.
About three years ago my grades started to get very good and it looked like school would stick. I came home one night and told Betty that I thought things were getting better every year, year after year. She started crying and wouldn't tell me why. It took me a long time to figure it out, and when I did I felt pretty sheepish. I asked her, she answered yes, and nine months to the day of our wedding night, little Tina was born. She's as cute as a bug, and someday when she is old enough to learn about her old man's story, I will take this essay out of storage for her to read.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
From Ho Chi Minh to Hongkong: Heading south of the Clouds
A bridge stood between two shores, two countries.
Lugging our backpacks along, Jon and i crossed the border into Hekou, the first China pitstop. It was quiet. We trudged around town, getting our directions and settling into a hotel. The bus station was nearby, and we decided to book tickets to Jianshui. A local recommended it as a must-go travel location.
For lunch, we settled at one of the Sichuan roadside stalls that thronged our district. Some mama-sans chatted with us till they realised we were too young, ha. They seem quite common in town. And finally we could afford desserts! The supermarkets had atrociously low prices that we went on ice-cream sprees almost every day in China.
Evening closed slowly on the friendly, peaceful town. Jon went back to rest for his flu, while i explored on alone. People dancing in the park. Pool competitions in caged arenas. Loose shingles every five steps you took. Cheesy communist slogans like "Wishing Peace and Prosperity Everywhere" and "Let's build an utopia together" that forced my eyes away. More mama-sans introducing their coteries of girls. The whole place just screamed, 'I'm just a boring border town, whaddya expect?'
The next morning, diarrhoea.
And it continued the entire time in China, mostly because the streetside fare was too cheap and good to pass up on.
But the mountain journey to Jianshui was slightly reinvigorating. Our bus brought us up through white billowing clouds into the mountainous terrain of Yunnan. We passed indigenous natives hiking up the mountains, a marketplace full of bustling activity, a toppled-over truck. Midway was Bingjian, a tiny, shabby town that probably served as the hub of the farming community. Vast expanses of grain, wheat and maize fields swarmed the landscape. Nothing in nature, sadly, ever belongs to nature.
We passed by the large industrial town of Meng Zi, then entered Jianshui.
The town had a rustic atmosphere to it. Extensive conservation of ancient Chinese streets and buildings has made it an authentic tourist spot. But the modern shopfronts and people really turned off any resemblance to TVB guzhuang dramas. We were probably not as excited to see the centuries old City Gate or some such archaic stuff.
It was mostly food galore for us. 'Trying out anything and everything we saw along the way' became our way of life in China. Our stomachs were carefully utilised to their maximum capacity.
Still, we had to take a look at the attractions. We prayed at the Wen Miao, the second largest Confucius temple, a large complex of exhibits and statues. It's the perfect place for literary idiots. We roamed the colossal grounds of Zhu Jia Hua Yuan, equipped with 204 rooms, 42 courtyards, a lake, cinema and helipad. Our guide educated us about the ancient traditions and customs, and the rise and fall of the Zhu family.
We caught a bus to the Swallow Cave, or Yan Zi Dong, one of the world's great natural caves. The mating season was in full swing, and we stared at tens of thousands of swallows flitter in and out of the cave. We witnessed one of China's disappearing great arts, the gathering of bird's nest by rock climbing experts without equipment. But most of the cavern interiors was some kitschy rock stuff.
The coldness of the altitude and the rainy season slowly seeped into our skins as we advanced towards Kunming. We caught a bus to Qu Jiang, docking at Tonghai, then transferred to Yuxi, a modern town of archaeological significance. Nearby, dinosaur and primordial fossils had been excavated in the hills. Our first destination, the Yuxi city museum.
The prehistoric exhibit, doubtless, took our breath away. There were real fossils of plants, shelled sea creatures, and dinosaurs. I liked the reconstructed dinosaur skeletons, as well as the detail put into the information boards. Then there were other exhibits on the porcelain and bronze ages, the primitive man, and other less interesting topics.
The rain still poured on. We hopped into a shopping mall and its Walmart to while the time away. After the skies cleared, we took a walk in the park, then explored the shopping district near our hotel. Things start to look like back in Singapore. Developed cities are really all the same, homogenised crap. That's why only developing areas are interesting. We are all losing our culture, at least on the appearance.
I think - somewhere along the way, we might have forgotten what we were looking for.
Still we have to move on. Next stop, Kunming.
Lugging our backpacks along, Jon and i crossed the border into Hekou, the first China pitstop. It was quiet. We trudged around town, getting our directions and settling into a hotel. The bus station was nearby, and we decided to book tickets to Jianshui. A local recommended it as a must-go travel location.
For lunch, we settled at one of the Sichuan roadside stalls that thronged our district. Some mama-sans chatted with us till they realised we were too young, ha. They seem quite common in town. And finally we could afford desserts! The supermarkets had atrociously low prices that we went on ice-cream sprees almost every day in China.
Evening closed slowly on the friendly, peaceful town. Jon went back to rest for his flu, while i explored on alone. People dancing in the park. Pool competitions in caged arenas. Loose shingles every five steps you took. Cheesy communist slogans like "Wishing Peace and Prosperity Everywhere" and "Let's build an utopia together" that forced my eyes away. More mama-sans introducing their coteries of girls. The whole place just screamed, 'I'm just a boring border town, whaddya expect?'
The next morning, diarrhoea.
And it continued the entire time in China, mostly because the streetside fare was too cheap and good to pass up on.
But the mountain journey to Jianshui was slightly reinvigorating. Our bus brought us up through white billowing clouds into the mountainous terrain of Yunnan. We passed indigenous natives hiking up the mountains, a marketplace full of bustling activity, a toppled-over truck. Midway was Bingjian, a tiny, shabby town that probably served as the hub of the farming community. Vast expanses of grain, wheat and maize fields swarmed the landscape. Nothing in nature, sadly, ever belongs to nature.
We passed by the large industrial town of Meng Zi, then entered Jianshui.
The town had a rustic atmosphere to it. Extensive conservation of ancient Chinese streets and buildings has made it an authentic tourist spot. But the modern shopfronts and people really turned off any resemblance to TVB guzhuang dramas. We were probably not as excited to see the centuries old City Gate or some such archaic stuff.
It was mostly food galore for us. 'Trying out anything and everything we saw along the way' became our way of life in China. Our stomachs were carefully utilised to their maximum capacity.
Still, we had to take a look at the attractions. We prayed at the Wen Miao, the second largest Confucius temple, a large complex of exhibits and statues. It's the perfect place for literary idiots. We roamed the colossal grounds of Zhu Jia Hua Yuan, equipped with 204 rooms, 42 courtyards, a lake, cinema and helipad. Our guide educated us about the ancient traditions and customs, and the rise and fall of the Zhu family.
We caught a bus to the Swallow Cave, or Yan Zi Dong, one of the world's great natural caves. The mating season was in full swing, and we stared at tens of thousands of swallows flitter in and out of the cave. We witnessed one of China's disappearing great arts, the gathering of bird's nest by rock climbing experts without equipment. But most of the cavern interiors was some kitschy rock stuff.
The coldness of the altitude and the rainy season slowly seeped into our skins as we advanced towards Kunming. We caught a bus to Qu Jiang, docking at Tonghai, then transferred to Yuxi, a modern town of archaeological significance. Nearby, dinosaur and primordial fossils had been excavated in the hills. Our first destination, the Yuxi city museum.
The prehistoric exhibit, doubtless, took our breath away. There were real fossils of plants, shelled sea creatures, and dinosaurs. I liked the reconstructed dinosaur skeletons, as well as the detail put into the information boards. Then there were other exhibits on the porcelain and bronze ages, the primitive man, and other less interesting topics.
The rain still poured on. We hopped into a shopping mall and its Walmart to while the time away. After the skies cleared, we took a walk in the park, then explored the shopping district near our hotel. Things start to look like back in Singapore. Developed cities are really all the same, homogenised crap. That's why only developing areas are interesting. We are all losing our culture, at least on the appearance.
I think - somewhere along the way, we might have forgotten what we were looking for.
Still we have to move on. Next stop, Kunming.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
From Ho Chi Minh to Hongkong: More than a small mountain town
Where were we? Oh right, getting back to Hanoi after the fun at Halong Bay.
Here's our third travel mate's diary entry for Day 10, 12th June.
"We took a boat and minibus back to Hanoi. Tour guide was a bastard, he refused to let us alight at the place we wanted. Took a cheap cab to Vin Comm Tower. Things are exp there but still cheaper than in SG.
There are alot of chio bus there. The 3 amigos were right! I bought a branded t-shirt there. It looks nice and it's cheap. But i tried 8 shirts before buying.
We had a scrumptious meal at a roadside restaurant near VC tower, eating dishes with eel inside. Yummy! The meals just cost less than 2 bucks each.
We went to the train station next, by cab but it was yet another scam incident. The driver acted stupid & took us a big round before bringing us to our destination. Such petty scams really spoilt our good impression of Vietnam.
The train station looked antique. Our cabin is hard berth, meaning hard wooden seats. It's uncomfortable but it allows us to be in the midst of the locals.
Playing cards right now."
After an hour of extensive card bouts with Chinese High's self-proclaimed 'Daidee Kings', we settled down to sleep for the night. Jon and i squeezed under the benches and slept on the cold, hard floor.
Meanwhile the train rumbled and grumbled on into the night.
The next day, in the border town of Lao Cai.
We got out of the train station, all rough and gruffy, and caught a bus up the spiraling mountain path, up to our last pitstop in Vietnam.
Sapa. A mountain town overlooking a gaping valley, where ethnic minority groups eke out a living by farming on its lush verdant slopes. Rows upon rows of rice terraces had been etched painstakingly across the vegetation, as though Order had made its way through this wild, forested Nature. Little settlements bloomed at little corners of the valley, like mushrooms hiding beneath tree roots. The clouds flooded the sky, and sheets of sunlight flowed across these fertile fields amid gentle rain.
Gusts of icy winds blew through the windows into the van. I gasped.
We booked our hotel, and began to seek adventure outside. Jon saw a little native girl holding an umbrella, and excitedly rushed to take a picture with her. Her name was Si. We slowly walked to the local markets, and met a awkwardly huge crowd of female touters, all from a nearby native tribe, the Hmong people. All seemed experienced and equipped with Touter-level English (T-level).
"Hello whats your name? Where you come from? My name is ---. I am happy to meet you... now BUY MY STUFF!!"
I am seriously sick of touters. But fortunately in Sapa they were much nicer and weren't as persistent. I thought.
The flea markets contained folkwear for every season and tribe, as well as souvenirs that screamed 'I am so cheap that you can buy a dozen and give me to all your colleagues and twice-removed cousins!' I resisted the temptation.
Si led us upwards, towards the highest point on the mountain. After awhile of climbing, we explored gardens and pavilions, then navigated through rock formations to wide fields of flowering bushes. Our understanding tour guide even allocated break times for us, even though she herself didn't even break a sweat and hadn't taken a sip of water.
It was breathtaking scenery, finally, at the watch tower on the peak. A quiet spot, cool and refreshing, off the Lonely Planet maps of most tourists. I'm glad we decided to get up here.
As we dropped down to explore further, Bape felt slightly sick. We took a break. Si seemed pretty bored, so i passed her my camera. She took photos excitedly. After all, every sufficiently advanced technology is like magic. It was the first time we saw her smile naturally today.
We descended back to the town, where 3 touting girls came at me. Somewhat imaginatively, they got the idea that i'd promised to buy from them later on. We went for lunch, while Si agreed to meet us afterwards, to bring us to a village nearby for a trek. Quite a couple of streets were saturated with touristy restaurants, so we just picked one and crossed fingers. Surprisingly it was good enough.
Bape decided he'd look for a western doctor in town. Previously Si had recommended her village's voodoo doctor but Bape wasn't game enough for that heh. Ian and i met up with Si. Fatefully, three of the previous touting girls returned and suddenly confronted me! I was busy trying to distract them when out of the blue something happened.
A cow, dragged to the slaughterhouse along the streets, was frantically struggling for its life! It trotted here and there, dragging and goring its owner around, and knocked down motorbikes. In the end the owner managed to tie it around a lamppost while calling for more help.
"It's going to die," Na (the youngest of the three) murmured.
We met up with the rest, and began the trek to nearby Cat Cat village. The three had tagged along, so we had four native girls following us! Ha, one for each of us.
"Un, deux, troix, quatre, cinq..." The oldest girl chanted. Her name was Nini, and she turned out to be able to converse in French! We began speaking in French awhile, till i couldn't catch up. She'd picked it up from a friend, perhaps a French tourist.
Anyway, it turned out to be really, awfully fun with them leading us on the trek. Si, Emh and Nini were great guides well equipped with knowledge of natural history and the flora and fauna. Cute lil' Na mostly mucked around in play.
"How old are you?" Nini asks curiously.
"Oh, i'm eight years old," I reply.
"You are? Well, then i was born YESTERDAY." She taunts back.
The scenery of rice paddies and wheat fields grew closer and closer, till we stood within them. Cat Cat village loomed at the bottom of the valley. Boars, ducks, chickens ran astray everywhere. The children ran around, their faces smeared with mud, and clothes soiled for days. The farmers toiled away in the fields. We walked through to a large roaring waterfall at the end of the village, which stood as though it were the most natural thing in the world to exist.
The girls began leading us to a shortcut, which turned out to be a dead-end in the paddy fields! That was a crazy funny incident, but it was nice to walk along the tees of the rice terrace. After long tiring hours, we finally trekked out of the valley.
The girls have incredible stamina and agility. We were huffing and puffing while scaling a 60` slope, while Na was skipping ahead like a goat. Bape got to the top, and asked her for a hand.
"..... Lazy Boy!" Na glared and ignored him. She walked off, and eventually led us by a huge distance.
"Na, Tor Pi Yo!", and she finally smiled and stopped to wait for us.
Our delightful trek today ended back in town. We bought things from all of them as a form of thanks. But today, truly, we gained something priceless- this memorable trip with our four wonderful guides. Their innocence brought us joy and laughter, their antics kept us endlessly amused, and their local knowledge left us awed.
Nevertheless, it's time for us to 'Kia Kia lo'. The sun slowly set on the mountain top. We ate at Mimosa, a pretty good restaurant, then wandered to look at the night scene. Sadly, it would be the only night we'll spend in this dreamy town.
Tomorrow...
The twelfth morning arrived. Jon and i bade farewell to Bape and Ian as we moved on to our next phase of travel: Yunnan, China. As we searched for a taxi, we bumped into Si and Na again. Si seemed much more cheerful today, and she told us that she had actually been ill. She now has a large mark on her forehead, from the witch doctor. We said our farewells to the girls, and prepared to leave. I couldn't resist saying,
"Na, Tor Pi Yo!" And they echoed it playfully, all the way.
As the van lumbered down the winding path, the scenery outside shone. Filled water terraces gleamed in the sunlight, mirroring the perfect nature that hung about it.
We had left beautiful, unforgettable Sapa.
Our journey in China still awaits.
Here's our third travel mate's diary entry for Day 10, 12th June.
"We took a boat and minibus back to Hanoi. Tour guide was a bastard, he refused to let us alight at the place we wanted. Took a cheap cab to Vin Comm Tower. Things are exp there but still cheaper than in SG.
There are alot of chio bus there. The 3 amigos were right! I bought a branded t-shirt there. It looks nice and it's cheap. But i tried 8 shirts before buying.
We had a scrumptious meal at a roadside restaurant near VC tower, eating dishes with eel inside. Yummy! The meals just cost less than 2 bucks each.
We went to the train station next, by cab but it was yet another scam incident. The driver acted stupid & took us a big round before bringing us to our destination. Such petty scams really spoilt our good impression of Vietnam.
The train station looked antique. Our cabin is hard berth, meaning hard wooden seats. It's uncomfortable but it allows us to be in the midst of the locals.
Playing cards right now."
After an hour of extensive card bouts with Chinese High's self-proclaimed 'Daidee Kings', we settled down to sleep for the night. Jon and i squeezed under the benches and slept on the cold, hard floor.
Meanwhile the train rumbled and grumbled on into the night.
The next day, in the border town of Lao Cai.
We got out of the train station, all rough and gruffy, and caught a bus up the spiraling mountain path, up to our last pitstop in Vietnam.
Sapa. A mountain town overlooking a gaping valley, where ethnic minority groups eke out a living by farming on its lush verdant slopes. Rows upon rows of rice terraces had been etched painstakingly across the vegetation, as though Order had made its way through this wild, forested Nature. Little settlements bloomed at little corners of the valley, like mushrooms hiding beneath tree roots. The clouds flooded the sky, and sheets of sunlight flowed across these fertile fields amid gentle rain.
Gusts of icy winds blew through the windows into the van. I gasped.
We booked our hotel, and began to seek adventure outside. Jon saw a little native girl holding an umbrella, and excitedly rushed to take a picture with her. Her name was Si. We slowly walked to the local markets, and met a awkwardly huge crowd of female touters, all from a nearby native tribe, the Hmong people. All seemed experienced and equipped with Touter-level English (T-level).
"Hello whats your name? Where you come from? My name is ---. I am happy to meet you... now BUY MY STUFF!!"
I am seriously sick of touters. But fortunately in Sapa they were much nicer and weren't as persistent. I thought.
The flea markets contained folkwear for every season and tribe, as well as souvenirs that screamed 'I am so cheap that you can buy a dozen and give me to all your colleagues and twice-removed cousins!' I resisted the temptation.
Si led us upwards, towards the highest point on the mountain. After awhile of climbing, we explored gardens and pavilions, then navigated through rock formations to wide fields of flowering bushes. Our understanding tour guide even allocated break times for us, even though she herself didn't even break a sweat and hadn't taken a sip of water.
It was breathtaking scenery, finally, at the watch tower on the peak. A quiet spot, cool and refreshing, off the Lonely Planet maps of most tourists. I'm glad we decided to get up here.
As we dropped down to explore further, Bape felt slightly sick. We took a break. Si seemed pretty bored, so i passed her my camera. She took photos excitedly. After all, every sufficiently advanced technology is like magic. It was the first time we saw her smile naturally today.
We descended back to the town, where 3 touting girls came at me. Somewhat imaginatively, they got the idea that i'd promised to buy from them later on. We went for lunch, while Si agreed to meet us afterwards, to bring us to a village nearby for a trek. Quite a couple of streets were saturated with touristy restaurants, so we just picked one and crossed fingers. Surprisingly it was good enough.
Bape decided he'd look for a western doctor in town. Previously Si had recommended her village's voodoo doctor but Bape wasn't game enough for that heh. Ian and i met up with Si. Fatefully, three of the previous touting girls returned and suddenly confronted me! I was busy trying to distract them when out of the blue something happened.
A cow, dragged to the slaughterhouse along the streets, was frantically struggling for its life! It trotted here and there, dragging and goring its owner around, and knocked down motorbikes. In the end the owner managed to tie it around a lamppost while calling for more help.
"It's going to die," Na (the youngest of the three) murmured.
We met up with the rest, and began the trek to nearby Cat Cat village. The three had tagged along, so we had four native girls following us! Ha, one for each of us.
"Un, deux, troix, quatre, cinq..." The oldest girl chanted. Her name was Nini, and she turned out to be able to converse in French! We began speaking in French awhile, till i couldn't catch up. She'd picked it up from a friend, perhaps a French tourist.
Anyway, it turned out to be really, awfully fun with them leading us on the trek. Si, Emh and Nini were great guides well equipped with knowledge of natural history and the flora and fauna. Cute lil' Na mostly mucked around in play.
"How old are you?" Nini asks curiously.
"Oh, i'm eight years old," I reply.
"You are? Well, then i was born YESTERDAY." She taunts back.
The scenery of rice paddies and wheat fields grew closer and closer, till we stood within them. Cat Cat village loomed at the bottom of the valley. Boars, ducks, chickens ran astray everywhere. The children ran around, their faces smeared with mud, and clothes soiled for days. The farmers toiled away in the fields. We walked through to a large roaring waterfall at the end of the village, which stood as though it were the most natural thing in the world to exist.
The girls began leading us to a shortcut, which turned out to be a dead-end in the paddy fields! That was a crazy funny incident, but it was nice to walk along the tees of the rice terrace. After long tiring hours, we finally trekked out of the valley.
The girls have incredible stamina and agility. We were huffing and puffing while scaling a 60` slope, while Na was skipping ahead like a goat. Bape got to the top, and asked her for a hand.
"..... Lazy Boy!" Na glared and ignored him. She walked off, and eventually led us by a huge distance.
"Na, Tor Pi Yo!", and she finally smiled and stopped to wait for us.
Our delightful trek today ended back in town. We bought things from all of them as a form of thanks. But today, truly, we gained something priceless- this memorable trip with our four wonderful guides. Their innocence brought us joy and laughter, their antics kept us endlessly amused, and their local knowledge left us awed.
Nevertheless, it's time for us to 'Kia Kia lo'. The sun slowly set on the mountain top. We ate at Mimosa, a pretty good restaurant, then wandered to look at the night scene. Sadly, it would be the only night we'll spend in this dreamy town.
Tomorrow...
The twelfth morning arrived. Jon and i bade farewell to Bape and Ian as we moved on to our next phase of travel: Yunnan, China. As we searched for a taxi, we bumped into Si and Na again. Si seemed much more cheerful today, and she told us that she had actually been ill. She now has a large mark on her forehead, from the witch doctor. We said our farewells to the girls, and prepared to leave. I couldn't resist saying,
"Na, Tor Pi Yo!" And they echoed it playfully, all the way.
As the van lumbered down the winding path, the scenery outside shone. Filled water terraces gleamed in the sunlight, mirroring the perfect nature that hung about it.
We had left beautiful, unforgettable Sapa.
Our journey in China still awaits.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Night safari outing
A nice fun outing with the fellow eyeballs~
My driving is absolutely terrible after a month's hiatus. Went to fetch Yz from Tampines, then sped down TPE/SLE to Mandai Road. "Turn right at Mandai Rd, turn left at Mandai Lake Rd." Wrote that on one of my brain cells. Finally, Night Safari!
Met up with everyone else and the kids! It's great to see them again. I really seemed to have slimmed, even Winnie and Doris exclaimed. Something about my cheeks and chin. I think only women notice, like my mum.
Sadly after a month of bargaining and seeking cheap prices, i barge into one of the ultimate tourist traps in SG. A plate of fried kway teow is $16. A burger meal is $13. WTF! Yes i have eaten. I am satiated, glutted, stuffed, thank you very much. Sometimes i think they forget that i'm a poor student just out of NS and completely broke.
Well night safari just isn't as fun to adults anymore. It's been, say, ten years now. We look at exhibits of all sorts of nocturnal animals. Porcupines, civets, leopards, boars, crocodiles, otters. The bat enclosure was really nice, seeing them scoot above our heads or feeding on fruits on the trees. And the tiger was really tiny, even smaller than the leopard! It's supposed to be the biggest cat in the jungle but guess you don't need to when you're fed Friskies or Whiskas every day.
But it was fun with the kids. Rachel understands my jokes. Xiaowei keeps laughing and sajiaoing. And the boys still run and fool around like a hyperactive bunch of ... gas molecules. Haha well it felt nice for a change.
It's getting late. I'd better sleep before i start thinking too much.
Well, nitez.
My driving is absolutely terrible after a month's hiatus. Went to fetch Yz from Tampines, then sped down TPE/SLE to Mandai Road. "Turn right at Mandai Rd, turn left at Mandai Lake Rd." Wrote that on one of my brain cells. Finally, Night Safari!
Met up with everyone else and the kids! It's great to see them again. I really seemed to have slimmed, even Winnie and Doris exclaimed. Something about my cheeks and chin. I think only women notice, like my mum.
Sadly after a month of bargaining and seeking cheap prices, i barge into one of the ultimate tourist traps in SG. A plate of fried kway teow is $16. A burger meal is $13. WTF! Yes i have eaten. I am satiated, glutted, stuffed, thank you very much. Sometimes i think they forget that i'm a poor student just out of NS and completely broke.
Well night safari just isn't as fun to adults anymore. It's been, say, ten years now. We look at exhibits of all sorts of nocturnal animals. Porcupines, civets, leopards, boars, crocodiles, otters. The bat enclosure was really nice, seeing them scoot above our heads or feeding on fruits on the trees. And the tiger was really tiny, even smaller than the leopard! It's supposed to be the biggest cat in the jungle but guess you don't need to when you're fed Friskies or Whiskas every day.
But it was fun with the kids. Rachel understands my jokes. Xiaowei keeps laughing and sajiaoing. And the boys still run and fool around like a hyperactive bunch of ... gas molecules. Haha well it felt nice for a change.
It's getting late. I'd better sleep before i start thinking too much.
Well, nitez.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
From Ho Chi Minh to Hongkong: A Junk can bring you to Paradise
Morning. A few hours ride, to the Halong Bay city docks. The Chinese junks floating anout looked like, well, junk. Hop and off we were cruising down the calm waters. Towering stacks and stumps made of karst lined the bay.
Sunbathing, lunch, camwhoring. An excursion to one of the islands. We traversed the huge caverns inside, kitschy lights shining from the ceiling and limestone structures jutting out of the looming darkness. Swallows flitted. I wandered.
On deck, we lay on the beach chairs, admiring the scenery floating by our eyes. The junk floated along the blue-green waters. A market floated along, too, looking hopefully for some buyers for their fruits.
We talked. Life, global politics, dreams for the future. Great guys, these people. Witty, learned, smart enough. Our tour guide, Uy, a promising high-flyer (relatively) with a degree in geology and petroleum, told us his life story. A love story. Aren't they all?
Swim. Dive. Jump from the boat into the great unknown waters! Salty, for one. Pretty awesome fun anyway, swimming in the calm bay.
We washed up for dinner. Calamari, chicken, kangkong and fish. We feasted with a spanish couple who sat with us, Mark and Cristina. Then an after-dinner chat for a couple of hours! We exchanged cultural info, travel stories and life in general. We shared little anecdotes, like the vietnamese guy talking on the handphone while navigating AGAINST the traffic flow. They were an economist and lawyer, and looked like they were made for each other.
Hopped up to deck, relaxing, looking at dimly lit silhouettes of the majestic rock islets around us, amid the starry night. Uy shared more stories with us. About local politics. The communist government is all about connections and relations. He reckons there's a need for Vietnam and its leaders to revamp and improve its government in this modern age. Hell, all the locals knows that. But people are hard to change. Aren't we all?
"What is your dream? Do you wish for a change in your life?" I pressed.
"Daily life itself is change. Every new day brings about change, improvement or otherwise. Everyday i'm contributing to society, earning money, seeing my wife and children's smiles. I do not have to wish for change," And Uy laughed.
I mulled.
And the night passed in beer and philosophy.
The morning saw us at breakfast with an Australian couple, Sam and Alice. They're headed to London to work there and use it as a hub to travel around Europe. It's a very popular choice of options for young people raring to see the world. I finally got the hang of hearing, 'Yup.' 'Yup.' 'Yup.' Trust me, it does get on the nerves at first.
Tidbit: Firefighters in AU work out at the gym all day, and are bored stiff. No wonder they were so happy to help put out the fires at live firing in Wallaby.
The morning programme: trekking at Cat Ba National Park. We put on our battlegear (New Balance NS shoes for most), and began hiking up a steep hill. Fastforward one grueling hour later, and you see us at the top of a watchtower, gazing at mesmerising ranges beyond ranges of forested hills. We met Angela on the way down, a tour operator who studied English extensively. Oh, and i lost her namecard.
Lunch on the boat, till we reached Monkey Island. The apes could speak and they even captured us into cages! Somehow we were able to get a female one to pity us and set us free. And we escaped in a space ship. After that we went kayaking.
The Halong Bay experience was closing to an end. I sat at the prow of the boat, brooding, thinking.
Evening, and we check in at a 3-star hotel! Splendid luxury for an affordable price. We met the other 4 SGeans who get even more peeved for continuing to be Kanned. Chillex, guys.
My first shot at motorcycling! We rented a motorbike from this fella at the roadside. Jason, who'd mostly learned biking back home, gave me a 101 tutorial. I spent a couple tries at figuring out its controls, then finally set off! It was crazy, roaring fun scooting down the roads. The exhilarating feeling of freedom...
The bike's owner nearly had a heart attack when he saw it was me riding it. He lambasted Jason for letting a potential bikewrecker ride, so we had to find some secret corner to practise instead.
Someday i should get Class 2. My dad has class 2(bike), 3(motorcar), 4(container), 5(crane), the complete works. Sick.
The sun rose, and we were on our way back to Hanoi. Bumped into Mr Vincent, a Hwa Chung teacher, and Ricky, his Vietnamese student. Ivan et al reminisced happily about Chinese High. It was great chatting with them and whiling the time away. Turned out Ricky's father was related to the Chief of Police, and could get a high position in a department, thus affording to send him to SG for studies. Strange how nothing disgusts me anymore.
Just.
Sunbathing, lunch, camwhoring. An excursion to one of the islands. We traversed the huge caverns inside, kitschy lights shining from the ceiling and limestone structures jutting out of the looming darkness. Swallows flitted. I wandered.
On deck, we lay on the beach chairs, admiring the scenery floating by our eyes. The junk floated along the blue-green waters. A market floated along, too, looking hopefully for some buyers for their fruits.
We talked. Life, global politics, dreams for the future. Great guys, these people. Witty, learned, smart enough. Our tour guide, Uy, a promising high-flyer (relatively) with a degree in geology and petroleum, told us his life story. A love story. Aren't they all?
Swim. Dive. Jump from the boat into the great unknown waters! Salty, for one. Pretty awesome fun anyway, swimming in the calm bay.
We washed up for dinner. Calamari, chicken, kangkong and fish. We feasted with a spanish couple who sat with us, Mark and Cristina. Then an after-dinner chat for a couple of hours! We exchanged cultural info, travel stories and life in general. We shared little anecdotes, like the vietnamese guy talking on the handphone while navigating AGAINST the traffic flow. They were an economist and lawyer, and looked like they were made for each other.
Hopped up to deck, relaxing, looking at dimly lit silhouettes of the majestic rock islets around us, amid the starry night. Uy shared more stories with us. About local politics. The communist government is all about connections and relations. He reckons there's a need for Vietnam and its leaders to revamp and improve its government in this modern age. Hell, all the locals knows that. But people are hard to change. Aren't we all?
"What is your dream? Do you wish for a change in your life?" I pressed.
"Daily life itself is change. Every new day brings about change, improvement or otherwise. Everyday i'm contributing to society, earning money, seeing my wife and children's smiles. I do not have to wish for change," And Uy laughed.
I mulled.
And the night passed in beer and philosophy.
The morning saw us at breakfast with an Australian couple, Sam and Alice. They're headed to London to work there and use it as a hub to travel around Europe. It's a very popular choice of options for young people raring to see the world. I finally got the hang of hearing, 'Yup.' 'Yup.' 'Yup.' Trust me, it does get on the nerves at first.
Tidbit: Firefighters in AU work out at the gym all day, and are bored stiff. No wonder they were so happy to help put out the fires at live firing in Wallaby.
The morning programme: trekking at Cat Ba National Park. We put on our battlegear (New Balance NS shoes for most), and began hiking up a steep hill. Fastforward one grueling hour later, and you see us at the top of a watchtower, gazing at mesmerising ranges beyond ranges of forested hills. We met Angela on the way down, a tour operator who studied English extensively. Oh, and i lost her namecard.
Lunch on the boat, till we reached Monkey Island. The apes could speak and they even captured us into cages! Somehow we were able to get a female one to pity us and set us free. And we escaped in a space ship. After that we went kayaking.
The Halong Bay experience was closing to an end. I sat at the prow of the boat, brooding, thinking.
Evening, and we check in at a 3-star hotel! Splendid luxury for an affordable price. We met the other 4 SGeans who get even more peeved for continuing to be Kanned. Chillex, guys.
My first shot at motorcycling! We rented a motorbike from this fella at the roadside. Jason, who'd mostly learned biking back home, gave me a 101 tutorial. I spent a couple tries at figuring out its controls, then finally set off! It was crazy, roaring fun scooting down the roads. The exhilarating feeling of freedom...
The bike's owner nearly had a heart attack when he saw it was me riding it. He lambasted Jason for letting a potential bikewrecker ride, so we had to find some secret corner to practise instead.
Someday i should get Class 2. My dad has class 2(bike), 3(motorcar), 4(container), 5(crane), the complete works. Sick.
The sun rose, and we were on our way back to Hanoi. Bumped into Mr Vincent, a Hwa Chung teacher, and Ricky, his Vietnamese student. Ivan et al reminisced happily about Chinese High. It was great chatting with them and whiling the time away. Turned out Ricky's father was related to the Chief of Police, and could get a high position in a department, thus affording to send him to SG for studies. Strange how nothing disgusts me anymore.
Just.
From Ho Chi Minh to Hongkong: Capitals, capitals
Hue, the imperial capital of ancient Vietnam.
It bore witness to the countless struggles and wars of the Vietnamese nation against the encroaching Chinese armies. I remember one war hero, a peasant girl called Madame Trung. A legendary monarch, she trained an army of invincible female soldiers and fought off the Chinese occupiers! And it threatened the invaders so much that the general had all his soldiers strip naked, to stop their approach.
I want to rail against the wind and the tide,
Kill the whales in the sea,
Sweep the whole country,
To save the people from slavery,
And I refuse to be enslaved.
That's a lil historic tidbit from one of our Vietnamese friends.
But i digress. As we arrived in Hue we were pleasantly surprised to find that we'd caught the biannual Hue festival! A couple of weeks of fine art performances, celebrations, dancing and singing and loads of Saigon beer! Well that's stretching it but you get the idea. Banners ablaze, party decorations and all. We talked to the first of our blue-shirted angels, official student volunteer festival helpers, who kindly got us a cheap and good meal for lunch.
Our stomachs filled, we found ourselves at the Imperial Citadel, the stronghold of ancient Hue. A sprawling castle complete with moat, fittings and walls. Comes with gardens, pavilions, exhibits, temples and cutthroat ticket collectors. All sold separately, batteries not included. See it for yourself.
Five-thirty - and the festival programme begins! We watched a German dance and musical troupe strut on the stage, putting up a fine native dance both humorous and entertaining. We dove out of the crowds for dinner, which turned out to be awful. "Chopped like carrots, we were," as Yoda might put it. Bay was so pissed he left his entire plate untouched. We left the place in a huff.
Well, time for my travel mates' input.
XX guy's diary entry:
"Majestic and nice. Important thing here is the 'Five big beauties', damn pretty. Managed to take with one of them. Kept harping about them & looking at the picture. Saw another 2 volunteers. Asked about Hue festival & prices of food. Roadside stalls typically charge foreigners more. Then watched performance at Citadel by Germans. Good footwork, music, singing. Went for dinner at some 'black shop', swindling mother. Horse complained but nobody paid attention to him. Left quickly and tried to catch performances inside imperial city. Great disparity between local and foreigner prices for entry tickets.
Took a cab down opposite to see over festive activities along the riverside. Ate at a posh restaurant, cheap 'festival' beer & nice delicious fried rice. Walked down riverside, saw alot of chio bu, kept talking about chio bu, saying we want to marry Vietnam girls.
The Vietnamese were fascinated by the public portable water fountain. They used it to wash hands instead."
YY guy's diary entry:
"6 USD for our Perfume River boat trip. Took motorcycles from hotel to wharf. We had a boat tour along the river to Thien Mu Pagoda, Tu Duc Mausoleum, some temple and Minh Mang Mausoleum. Mausoleums are cool but look the same after a while... Terrible lunch on the boat (included).
Highlight: Met friends Hsieu, Luk & Eng. Friendly and funny guys! Two study in SG so could converse w/ us in English. Eng & J. totally hit it off, talking endlessly abt girls. Guys also bought local tix for us :)
Boat trip ended early so we went to Dong Ba market, where J. n MJ bought slippers. Then went to a shopping centre & supermarket. Cabbed back to hotel. Dinner @ a cheap and gd place. Met guys again, had dinner w/ Hieu at roadside stall. Great & really cheap food!
Caught the sleeper bus to Hanoi, we were chatting to a uni lecturer but were chased off the bus to our correct bus. ZZZ..."
That's pretty much it. Oh i learned from Eng that the Vietnamese language used Chinese characters before the French invaded and forced them to convert the written form into the Roman alphabet.
And it's pretty interesting that Vietnam's shops, like merchant and F&B ones, require little business or customers to survive. I think they buy the place and live in it as well. But there's a problem of privacy, say when people are shopping for groceries and they see the shopkeeper's wife changing nappies for the baby.
Perhaps privacy is the prerogative of the developed world?
Long journeys make me fantasize about cosmic thoughts again. What might be going on in the universe this exact moment? The birth of a star? The collapse of an alien civilasation? Some bearded old guy playing chess with a snickering, sly young man?
I woke up stiffly on the bus the next day, in Hanoi. Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, and one of our disliked cities. We were off to a bad start - pickpockets running off when we alighted, and hotel touters bagnapping my bag. Got ourselves together, and we walked around the Old Quarter.
The Sword Lake hung in the middle of the city. Once upon a time, King Le Loi handed his sword to a giant turtle in the lake after his victory over Ming Dynasty invaders. And a temple in the middle of the lake houses the skeleton of a giant turtle, aged 500 years ago. Thus the legend was proven.
We met some SGeans of the same age there. They had just began travelling, and have already had themselves Kanned several times. We felt an immense sense of schadenfraude. Nah.
A taxi with a hacked meter got our moods upset. We grabbed some hard train seats for the route to Lao Cai, then went back to catch a Water Puppet show, a cultural highlight of Hanoi. It was pretty cute, but the lack of subtitles didn't help our comprehension of the story. Dinner we solved with some pork entrails noodles. Fat and sinful stuff.
Hanoi pissed me off. Awful inconsiderate traffic, sullen faces everywhere we go, high prices just because.
Give me Halong Bay.
It bore witness to the countless struggles and wars of the Vietnamese nation against the encroaching Chinese armies. I remember one war hero, a peasant girl called Madame Trung. A legendary monarch, she trained an army of invincible female soldiers and fought off the Chinese occupiers! And it threatened the invaders so much that the general had all his soldiers strip naked, to stop their approach.
I want to rail against the wind and the tide,
Kill the whales in the sea,
Sweep the whole country,
To save the people from slavery,
And I refuse to be enslaved.
That's a lil historic tidbit from one of our Vietnamese friends.
But i digress. As we arrived in Hue we were pleasantly surprised to find that we'd caught the biannual Hue festival! A couple of weeks of fine art performances, celebrations, dancing and singing and loads of Saigon beer! Well that's stretching it but you get the idea. Banners ablaze, party decorations and all. We talked to the first of our blue-shirted angels, official student volunteer festival helpers, who kindly got us a cheap and good meal for lunch.
Our stomachs filled, we found ourselves at the Imperial Citadel, the stronghold of ancient Hue. A sprawling castle complete with moat, fittings and walls. Comes with gardens, pavilions, exhibits, temples and cutthroat ticket collectors. All sold separately, batteries not included. See it for yourself.
Five-thirty - and the festival programme begins! We watched a German dance and musical troupe strut on the stage, putting up a fine native dance both humorous and entertaining. We dove out of the crowds for dinner, which turned out to be awful. "Chopped like carrots, we were," as Yoda might put it. Bay was so pissed he left his entire plate untouched. We left the place in a huff.
Well, time for my travel mates' input.
XX guy's diary entry:
"Majestic and nice. Important thing here is the 'Five big beauties', damn pretty. Managed to take with one of them. Kept harping about them & looking at the picture. Saw another 2 volunteers. Asked about Hue festival & prices of food. Roadside stalls typically charge foreigners more. Then watched performance at Citadel by Germans. Good footwork, music, singing. Went for dinner at some 'black shop', swindling mother. Horse complained but nobody paid attention to him. Left quickly and tried to catch performances inside imperial city. Great disparity between local and foreigner prices for entry tickets.
Took a cab down opposite to see over festive activities along the riverside. Ate at a posh restaurant, cheap 'festival' beer & nice delicious fried rice. Walked down riverside, saw alot of chio bu, kept talking about chio bu, saying we want to marry Vietnam girls.
The Vietnamese were fascinated by the public portable water fountain. They used it to wash hands instead."
YY guy's diary entry:
"6 USD for our Perfume River boat trip. Took motorcycles from hotel to wharf. We had a boat tour along the river to Thien Mu Pagoda, Tu Duc Mausoleum, some temple and Minh Mang Mausoleum. Mausoleums are cool but look the same after a while... Terrible lunch on the boat (included).
Highlight: Met friends Hsieu, Luk & Eng. Friendly and funny guys! Two study in SG so could converse w/ us in English. Eng & J. totally hit it off, talking endlessly abt girls. Guys also bought local tix for us :)
Boat trip ended early so we went to Dong Ba market, where J. n MJ bought slippers. Then went to a shopping centre & supermarket. Cabbed back to hotel. Dinner @ a cheap and gd place. Met guys again, had dinner w/ Hieu at roadside stall. Great & really cheap food!
Caught the sleeper bus to Hanoi, we were chatting to a uni lecturer but were chased off the bus to our correct bus. ZZZ..."
That's pretty much it. Oh i learned from Eng that the Vietnamese language used Chinese characters before the French invaded and forced them to convert the written form into the Roman alphabet.
And it's pretty interesting that Vietnam's shops, like merchant and F&B ones, require little business or customers to survive. I think they buy the place and live in it as well. But there's a problem of privacy, say when people are shopping for groceries and they see the shopkeeper's wife changing nappies for the baby.
Perhaps privacy is the prerogative of the developed world?
Long journeys make me fantasize about cosmic thoughts again. What might be going on in the universe this exact moment? The birth of a star? The collapse of an alien civilasation? Some bearded old guy playing chess with a snickering, sly young man?
I woke up stiffly on the bus the next day, in Hanoi. Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, and one of our disliked cities. We were off to a bad start - pickpockets running off when we alighted, and hotel touters bagnapping my bag. Got ourselves together, and we walked around the Old Quarter.
The Sword Lake hung in the middle of the city. Once upon a time, King Le Loi handed his sword to a giant turtle in the lake after his victory over Ming Dynasty invaders. And a temple in the middle of the lake houses the skeleton of a giant turtle, aged 500 years ago. Thus the legend was proven.
We met some SGeans of the same age there. They had just began travelling, and have already had themselves Kanned several times. We felt an immense sense of schadenfraude. Nah.
A taxi with a hacked meter got our moods upset. We grabbed some hard train seats for the route to Lao Cai, then went back to catch a Water Puppet show, a cultural highlight of Hanoi. It was pretty cute, but the lack of subtitles didn't help our comprehension of the story. Dinner we solved with some pork entrails noodles. Fat and sinful stuff.
Hanoi pissed me off. Awful inconsiderate traffic, sullen faces everywhere we go, high prices just because.
Give me Halong Bay.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
From Ho Chi Minh to Hongkong: The new and the old
We began in Saigon.
The economic capital, full of hustle and bustle, still retained the charm it exuded when i came the last time. As we took the taxi through the endless traffic of the city centre, the decrepit buildings and scrawly overhead wires and messy construction sites seized our attention greedily. The rude horns of buses and bikes, the polluted air filling our nostrils, the hot blazing sun over the streets. There is an inexplicable allure to it all.
Finally we are out of Singapore, and finally there is something different.
We alighted at Pham Ngu Lao, the backpackers' district, looking for accom. I found out the Bodhi Tree hotel has been torn down! The only cheap alternative was to share a 3 bedroom and add another bed. We hastily put our bags and set out to explore the city.
Walking along the streets, we went to good ol' attractions like the War Remnants museum, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, and the Ben Thanh market. The guys seemed ill interested in shopping, and the day passed in mostly sightseeing. At lunch we chatted with an angmoh waiter, who's Vietnamese but studied in the States. The food there was pretty decent, too.
Dusk approached. I led the guys down dark alleys to streetside food paradise a couple streets away. Sadly, i couldn't find the Pho stall of old. But we did try most of the local fare, before heading to Ben Thanh. We bumped into Mr Low, our RJ PE teacher there! Had a little gossip about teachers leaving, and RJ changing completely from our time.
The next day, the guys set off for their Cao Dai and Cuchi tour. Left alone, i hitched on the bus to Cholon, roaming its vast marketplace. It wasn't much fun, and i went to the docks next, and hired an hour's boat cruise along the Saigon river. Along the way i went onshore the other side and sipped tea with a kind villager and her kids. Wouldn't it be nice to have a global tongue! When we returned to the docks, i spent the rest of the day trekking around the city suburbs, tasting all the food stalls till i ran out of currency...darn.
At night, we caught the sleeper bus to Nha Trang. It was a pretty novel experience, lying on beds together in the bus! It was quite a squeeze, though, till some passengers got off.
Nha Trang - a beach and island paradise, perfect for scuba diving and watersports or island hopping for the more adventurous. Alas, time was not on our side, and we ventured on a city tour on our own. We walked to the beach, to the local cathedral, the White Buddha Pagoda (vegetarian food there greatly recommended! but beware of the 'Yo one dollar yo'), and finally trekked out of town to an Angkor Wat lookalike supposedly nearby. Turned out the only thing near about it was that we were walking near 5km to reach the damn place.
After all that footwork we planned to relax in a hot springs spa in the suburbs. Being diehard trekkers, we strode on 5 more km before giving up and taking bike transport there. The place turned out to be a huge theme-parkesque facility providing anything from deluxe to family fun packages. We bought the tix, changed our clothes and dived in the fun!
First up was a nice, slimy mud bath. We spent a comfortable time chilling in our little hole of brown, lovely mud. Ahh... then we lay in the sun, letting the mud evaporate from our skins. We took a mineral shower to wash it off, then went to a scalding hot spring bath. Brewing inside for awhile, next was a couple of swimming pools and a waterfall massage. Truly top grade spa enjoyment for dirtcheap prices, literally. After we'd ogled and had enough fun, it was time to go and catch the next overnight bus, to our next destination.
Hoi An. A UNESCO World Heritage Site. Where all our dreams of a deep cultural and historical experience shattered. Ask our opinion of UNESCO now, and undoubtedly we will extend our digitus impudicus. It was all a dirty scam. Or perhaps we simply expected too much. The town with its rustic streets and old Chinese architecture only reminded us of old China. Which we know all too well, from eons of watching chinese tv serials.
I talked to a girl at our hotel, Van, a local student studying in university and working meanwhile. It was the first time i got to further understand the education and job system in Vietnam. Basically, her degree will get her nowhere. A degree in tourism will get her a tour guide position at best. After her studies she might very well come back to the hotel to be the attendant or caretaker. That's all it'll lead her.
Getting back to the town. We traversed through the winding streets, walked through ancestral home museums, watched some cultural performaces, then hopped onto a boat cruise along Hoi An river. It was great fun when the lady driver gave us all a go at navigating the motor boat! And as night fell, we scrawled the markets, then found a comfy bar where we played a couple games of billiard. Some drinks later, and we were eased into sleep...
The economic capital, full of hustle and bustle, still retained the charm it exuded when i came the last time. As we took the taxi through the endless traffic of the city centre, the decrepit buildings and scrawly overhead wires and messy construction sites seized our attention greedily. The rude horns of buses and bikes, the polluted air filling our nostrils, the hot blazing sun over the streets. There is an inexplicable allure to it all.
Finally we are out of Singapore, and finally there is something different.
We alighted at Pham Ngu Lao, the backpackers' district, looking for accom. I found out the Bodhi Tree hotel has been torn down! The only cheap alternative was to share a 3 bedroom and add another bed. We hastily put our bags and set out to explore the city.
Walking along the streets, we went to good ol' attractions like the War Remnants museum, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, and the Ben Thanh market. The guys seemed ill interested in shopping, and the day passed in mostly sightseeing. At lunch we chatted with an angmoh waiter, who's Vietnamese but studied in the States. The food there was pretty decent, too.
Dusk approached. I led the guys down dark alleys to streetside food paradise a couple streets away. Sadly, i couldn't find the Pho stall of old. But we did try most of the local fare, before heading to Ben Thanh. We bumped into Mr Low, our RJ PE teacher there! Had a little gossip about teachers leaving, and RJ changing completely from our time.
The next day, the guys set off for their Cao Dai and Cuchi tour. Left alone, i hitched on the bus to Cholon, roaming its vast marketplace. It wasn't much fun, and i went to the docks next, and hired an hour's boat cruise along the Saigon river. Along the way i went onshore the other side and sipped tea with a kind villager and her kids. Wouldn't it be nice to have a global tongue! When we returned to the docks, i spent the rest of the day trekking around the city suburbs, tasting all the food stalls till i ran out of currency...darn.
At night, we caught the sleeper bus to Nha Trang. It was a pretty novel experience, lying on beds together in the bus! It was quite a squeeze, though, till some passengers got off.
Nha Trang - a beach and island paradise, perfect for scuba diving and watersports or island hopping for the more adventurous. Alas, time was not on our side, and we ventured on a city tour on our own. We walked to the beach, to the local cathedral, the White Buddha Pagoda (vegetarian food there greatly recommended! but beware of the 'Yo one dollar yo'), and finally trekked out of town to an Angkor Wat lookalike supposedly nearby. Turned out the only thing near about it was that we were walking near 5km to reach the damn place.
After all that footwork we planned to relax in a hot springs spa in the suburbs. Being diehard trekkers, we strode on 5 more km before giving up and taking bike transport there. The place turned out to be a huge theme-parkesque facility providing anything from deluxe to family fun packages. We bought the tix, changed our clothes and dived in the fun!
First up was a nice, slimy mud bath. We spent a comfortable time chilling in our little hole of brown, lovely mud. Ahh... then we lay in the sun, letting the mud evaporate from our skins. We took a mineral shower to wash it off, then went to a scalding hot spring bath. Brewing inside for awhile, next was a couple of swimming pools and a waterfall massage. Truly top grade spa enjoyment for dirtcheap prices, literally. After we'd ogled and had enough fun, it was time to go and catch the next overnight bus, to our next destination.
Hoi An. A UNESCO World Heritage Site. Where all our dreams of a deep cultural and historical experience shattered. Ask our opinion of UNESCO now, and undoubtedly we will extend our digitus impudicus. It was all a dirty scam. Or perhaps we simply expected too much. The town with its rustic streets and old Chinese architecture only reminded us of old China. Which we know all too well, from eons of watching chinese tv serials.
I talked to a girl at our hotel, Van, a local student studying in university and working meanwhile. It was the first time i got to further understand the education and job system in Vietnam. Basically, her degree will get her nowhere. A degree in tourism will get her a tour guide position at best. After her studies she might very well come back to the hotel to be the attendant or caretaker. That's all it'll lead her.
Getting back to the town. We traversed through the winding streets, walked through ancestral home museums, watched some cultural performaces, then hopped onto a boat cruise along Hoi An river. It was great fun when the lady driver gave us all a go at navigating the motor boat! And as night fell, we scrawled the markets, then found a comfy bar where we played a couple games of billiard. Some drinks later, and we were eased into sleep...
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
First Month-long backpacking trip: Success!
Safely back in Singapore! It's been a weary month of backpacking thru Vietnam, China and Hongkong. We've trekked into suburbs and over hills, crept around palaces and mausoleums, soaked in mud baths, breathed in cold mountain air, dived into naked blue waters, frolicked with thousands of swallows, and survived a Typhoon signal no. 8 storm to finally reach home.
Ah, home sweet home. And now we recollect our feelings and memories, reflect on the lessons learnt and take a temporary respite, before life, officially, starts again.
Why do we travel? For personal growth, to gain memorable experiences, or simply to seek repose from work and daily life? Hopefully everyone found what they were looking for. And when we feel ready again, it's time for the next heart-stirring adventure, the next path onward into the great world ahead. But that's another time, another story...
First let's dig out the statistics!
Trip: From Ho Chi Minh to Hongkong
Cities visited: HCM - Nha Trang - Hoi An - Hue - Hanoi - Halong Bay - Lao Cai - Sapa - Hekou - Jian Shui - Yu Xi - Kunming - Guangzhou - Shenzhen - Hongkong - Macau
Mileage : 2935.03 km (http://www.mapcrow.info/)
Duration: 28 days
Expenses: $1101
Interesting people met along the way: 26
Things lost: 2
Difficulty Rating: Easy enough
Group Compatibility: Above average!
Success rating: B+
Ah, home sweet home. And now we recollect our feelings and memories, reflect on the lessons learnt and take a temporary respite, before life, officially, starts again.
Why do we travel? For personal growth, to gain memorable experiences, or simply to seek repose from work and daily life? Hopefully everyone found what they were looking for. And when we feel ready again, it's time for the next heart-stirring adventure, the next path onward into the great world ahead. But that's another time, another story...
First let's dig out the statistics!
Trip: From Ho Chi Minh to Hongkong
Cities visited: HCM - Nha Trang - Hoi An - Hue - Hanoi - Halong Bay - Lao Cai - Sapa - Hekou - Jian Shui - Yu Xi - Kunming - Guangzhou - Shenzhen - Hongkong - Macau
Mileage : 2935.03 km (http://www.mapcrow.info/)
Duration: 28 days
Expenses: $1101
Interesting people met along the way: 26
Things lost: 2
Difficulty Rating: Easy enough
Group Compatibility: Above average!
Success rating: B+
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